The present invention relates to an exercise apparatus, and more particularly, an apparatus which in use is adapted to simulate an athlete""s natural skating or roller blading movement, whereby the user""s legs travel simultaneously in a lateral and rearward motion.
Exercise apparatus which simulate walking, running and stair climbing are well known. Running and walking exercise apparatus typically comprise an inclined moving belt or treadmill upon which the user walks or runs. Stair climbing or stepping apparatus typically include a pair of hinged pedals upon which a user stands, and in which the pedals are moved up and down by the user shifting his or her weight to simulate stair climbing movement. While conventional exercise apparatus achieve the exercise and movement of the biceps femoris muscle, they are poorly suited to provide toning and exercise the remaining leg muscles used in skating, such as abductors and adductor muscles, the gastrocnemius muscle, the soleusmuscle the gracilis muscle and/or the sartorius muscle.
In an effort to provide an exercise apparatus better adapted to exercise muscles used in skating, U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,658 to Miller et al describes a skate training apparatus which includes a pair of cantilevered support arms which are adapted to support a user""s legs in lateral movement. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,935 to Chu describes a skating exercise machine which is adapted to simulate skating movement by the use of a pair of cantilevered supports geared so as to move in an arcuate plane. The exercise apparatus of Chu and Miller, however, suffer the disadvantage in that in their operation, the user""s feet are maintained in a generally forward oriented position while moving about a lateral horizontal arc. In contrast, in roller blading or ice skating, an individual typically performs a skating stride whereby the position of each foot during each stride moves so as to turn outwardly, to provide an increased thrust force.
Heretofore, conventional skate training apparatus suffer the further disadvantage in that they are poorly suited to mimic the forward motion achieved in skating movement. In particular, as prior art skating devices are adapted to provide lateral movement substantially in a horizontal plane, conventional skating exercise apparatus fail to account for the change in leg and foot position experienced by a skater during actual forward movement. Furthermore, conventional skating exercise devices which operate to move the user""s leg only in a horizontal plane as the user""s leg moves outwardly, may result in increased stressing on the user""s Achilles and/or fibularis tendons.
Conventional skating exercise devices suffer a further disadvantage in that their complex design makes manufacture difficult, and the cantilevered arrangement of the user supporting pedals may be susceptible to premature wear and failure.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an exercise apparatus which, in use, permits toning and exercise to a wide variety of leg muscles, including one or more of the biceps femoris muscle, the gracilis muscle, the sartorius muscle, the gastrocnemius muscle and/or the soleus muscle.
Another object of the invention is to provide exercise apparatus which is designed to simulate an athlete""s natural ice skating or roller blade movement during forward motion.
Another object of the invention is to provide an exercise apparatus which in use, imparts a lateral and rearward movement to a user""s legs, while producing minimal stresses on the Achilles and/or Fibularis tendons.
A further object of the invention is to provide a simplified exercise apparatus which may be easily and economically manufactured, and which in use provides to a user a leg motion which approximates the motion performed by ice skating.
Another object of the invention is to provide a robust exercise apparatus which is adapted to support a user""s feet in movement during a natural skating motion.
The present invention provides an exercise apparatus used to simulate skating or roller blading movement in a user. The apparatus includes a pair of sleds or shuttles, each coupled to or including a pedal adapted to support the foot of a user standing thereon in simulated skating movement. The shuttles are movable along a respective guide assembly which, for example, may consist of one or more rails which curve away from each other extending from proximate forwardmost ends, outwardly and rearwardly. More preferably, each of the rail assemblies is provided in a substantially mirror arrangement and curve downwardly from their respective forwardmost ends so as to slope downwardly and rearwardly to a lowermost distal portion. The slope of the rail assemblies may be constant along their length, or alternately may vary in degree between the proximate and distal portions.
A guide member or mechanism may be provided to assist in positioning and/or maintaining the shuttles in sliding movement along each guide assembly, whereby the reciprocal sliding movement of the shuttles along an associated rail assembly acts to guide the feet of the user in skating or roller blade movement. A resistance mechanism may also be provided to enable the user to vary the resistance to which the shuttles move along the rails as, for example, to provide a workout of increased or decreased difficulty.
Accordingly, in one aspect the present invention resides in an exercise apparatus for simulating skating or roller blading movement in a user, said apparatus including,
a pair of shuttles, each of said shuttles including a frame and for supporting a foot of said user, and a guiding mechanism,
a pair of guide rail assemblies, each said guide rail assembly extending in a direction away from the other in a substantially mirror arrangement from raised proximal upper ends and curving downwardly and rearwardly to a lower distal end portion,
each said guiding mechanism guiding said associated shuttle in movement along an associated one of said rail assemblies between the proximal end and distal end portion, and whereby alternating reciprocal movement of said shuttles along said associated rail assemblies moves the feet of a user thereon substantially in skating or roller blading movement.
In another aspect, the present invention resides in an ice skating exercise apparatus comprising,
at least one pair of guide rails oriented in a substantially mirror arrangement and each extending from a substantially adjacent raised proximal upper end portion and curving downwardly and rearwardly to a lower distal end portion,
a pair of shuttles, each for movably supporting a foot of a user thereon and including a frame and a guide assembly for retaining said shuttle in sliding movement along an associated one of said pair of rails between the proximal end portion and the distal end portion, and
whereby the sliding movement of said shuttles along said associated pair of rails substantially simulates the user""s foot movement during skating.
In a further aspect, the present invention resides in an ice skating or roller blading exercise apparatus,
a pair of shuttles, each of said shuttles including a frame for movably supporting a foot of a user therein, and a guiding mechanism,
a pair of guide rail assemblies, each said guide rail assembly extending in a direction away from the other from a respective forward proximal end and curving rearwardly to a respective lower distal end portion,
each said guiding mechanism guiding said associated shuttle in movement along an associated one of said rail assemblies between the proximal end and distal end portion,
and whereby movement of said shuttles along said associated rail assemblies moves the user""s feet in simulated skating or roller blading movement.